An often overlooked, but important aspect of library work is the preservation and conservation of books and periodicals. Books are often damaged by environmental conditions, such as sunlight and humidity, as well as through misuse. They also deteriorate as they age and certain measures must be taken to ensure their preservation for future use. Here at Timme Library, Gloria Nazimek, oversees the large task of repairing and binding books and periodicals. She and her staff repair an average of 624 books a year.

Gloria has worked at Timme since 1976 and has attended many workshops on the art of conservation. One such workshop hosted by Johns Hopkins University, presented a series of lectures and workshops by Robert Milevski, who at that time was head of Preservation at the Milton S. Eisenhower Library. In addition to attending workshops, she also uses several different conservation guides by Jane Greenfield, Carolyn Marrow, Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler and Carole Dyal in her daily work.

Repairing aged and damaged books requires time and patience. For instance, the spine of a book needs to be repaired and replaced often. To do this, the conservation staff first carefully cuts the spine off the book using a razor blade. Both covers of the book are then removed and the text block is glued back together. Then they repair the old spine using bristol board and book cloth. Next, the spine is glued back on and the covers reattached. The conservation staff always puts on new endsheets after repairing a spine. Endsheets connect the text block to the cover and also serve to hide the raw edges of the hardbound cover. As a final step, the book must be pressed between book boards, allowing the glue to dry.

Other book repairs include fixing torn pages using Japanese paper and Filmoplast P Tape, freeze-drying books that have been damaged by water, replacing pages that have been torn out, and cleaning grease smudges off of pages. Ink and highlighter marks can not be cleaned and any book that is too badly damaged must be eliminated from the collection or replaced. Soft cover books are repaired by placing Kapco Easy covers over the top of a damaged cover. On-demand repairs are a great advantage in a busy library. Gloria estimates that she saves the Library over $5,000 a year in binding fees by having students do the repairs in the Library. Sending books to a bindery to be repaired costs an average of $8.50 per book. Only books of an ephemeral nature that are not easily repaired are sent to the bindery.

Through preservation and conservation efforts, the conservation staff ensures that students and faculty have access to materials for years to come. Without them, the library would lose many valuable materials.

Editor: Carrie Forbes
Technical Editor: Rick Bearden
Publication Committee: Rick Bearden, Anne Kelly, Lyle Mourer, and Felix Unaeze

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